Knights - Season One
by Hermione6720
Summary: It was a cycle until someone broke the rules. Harley Quinn awakens free of her previous insanity to find a Gotham devasted by a mysterious disaster with Batman gone. In the first season of the original drama, she finds herself in an unlikely team of Nightwing (Dick Grayson), Batgirl (Selina Kyle), Flamebird (Tim Drake), and Oracle (Barbara Gordon) as they take back the city.
1. Ep 1: Awakening (Part 1)

"I have a dream for a better Gotham." A morning breeze washed over the Gotham Park Amphitheater, as a crowd of citizens jostled to catch a glimpse of the benevolent billionaire, Bruce Wayne. It was a quiet, peaceful, day in the city of Gotham, and Harley almost felt bad about what she was about to do. Almost, but not quite. Typically scantily dressed, Harley instead wore a lab coat and blonde wig as she discreetly moved through the crowd.

"A Gotham where everybody deserves a second chance. A Gotham, where even the darkest of hearts may see the light." Harley rolled her eyes and tried to tune out the speech, which she quite frankly found boring. She made a mental note to stab Wayne in the eye when she got the chance. Quietly, the disguised clown arrived at her destination, the backstage doors. She slashed the guards in the neck, and stepped past their bleeding bodies into the amphitheater's backstage.

"A Gotham, where order wins over the seductive nature of chaos." Harley carefully placed the bombs in their appropriate locations, and sighed dreamily. "Mister J's just gonna love this."

"And a Gotham, where anyone, if their brave and selfless enough, may rise to the challenge, and be the cities-" Harley pressed the button, and everything exploded. She threw off her disguise, laughing hysterically as the air erupted in screaming. "Oh, wotta-" her smile swiftly vanished as a familiar fist met her face.

"Where's the Joker, Harley," The Batman growled. "Oh, Bats…" Harley sang airily. "Mister J couldn't make it. But don't worry, he sent a little gift, just for you!" She squealed in joy as she released a small rubber ducky in the air, which exploded and released a stream of toxin into the air. But the Batman was prepared his face already fixed with a gas mask as his fist connected with her gut, and knocked into her head. Despite herself, Harley giggled a little as she fell into unconsciousness.

The rest was a blur to Harley. She would later remember Batman taking her to a room, where some sort of doctor stuck a few needles into her. She struggled, but the Batman was there, watching the insane girl and saying "It's for your own good, Dr. Quinzel." She stuck her tongue out at him.

And then she slept.

**(Theme Song: **_**The Shadows Betray You**_** play as the camera zooms in on various areas of a destroyed Gotham)**

Weak light woke Harley, entering the small room from a broken window. She sat up in her bed, groaning. Something felt wrong. The formerly spick-and-span hospital room was covered in dust and cobwebs, but that wasn't what was giving Harley chills up her back. It wasn't the fact that her beloved Mister J had yet to rescue her. Rather, it was a horrible realization about Harley herself, initiated by the absence of a single sound.

Laughter. For the first time in years, Harley wasn't giggling, guffawing, or even snickering. "What did the bat do to me?" Harley wondered out loud. Those needles…Batman must've managed to somehow cure her insanity through an anti-Joker toxin…but then where was he? Where was everyone? Harley slipped out of the bed, and hesitantly tapped on the door, which creaked open ominously. _Am I still dreaming?_ She wondered as she crossed the silent hall., as dusty and dim as her own room. She arrived at the hospital's front doors, and hesitantly looked them over. _Do I want to do this? What if the Joker's waiting for me? What if they lock me back up? _But these fears were quenched by the curiosity of her situation.

Harley pushed open the door and her heart stopped.

Gotham was…destroyed. It appeared to have been the victim of a sort of earthquake. Many buildings were leveled, or at least severely injured. The streets were filled with rubble, and as Harley descended the hospital's stairs she thought she may've seen a corpse here and there. A few scared citizens flocked inside as they saw her. A hole opened inside Harley. What had turned Gotham into this? And more importantly… "Where's the Batman?" she murmured.

"A better question, sweetheart, would be where's my money?" Harley turned to see a man in some relatively cheap looking power armor. Menacing cracking his knuckles.

"Excuse me?" she said, backing away.

The man smiled. "You're on East End turf, sweetheart, which means you gotta pay your dues."

"Uhm, right…" Harley said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll just be going now…" The formerly insane girl turned to leave.

"I don't think so," said the man and suddenly, Harley was ducking to avoid a blast of electricity. Something inside Harley snapped and she lunged at the man, gracefully avoiding his futile attempts to hit her and delivering a painful kick to his face. The man slumped to the ground, unconscious. Harley's mind spun. How could the Batman have let this happen?

"Hey! Hey, you!" a man approached Harley, wearing armor similar to the one whom Harley had defeated. She warily settled into a combat stance, but he shook his head. "I don't mean you no harm! Don't you listen to Sparky here, he's a ! #$ing idiot."

"I noticed." Harley replied drily, before asking what was really on her mind. "What happened to Gotham?"

The man burst out laughing. _Is that so irritating when I do it?_ Harley wondered silently, but the man noticed her expression and stopped. "You seriously don't know?"

Harley stared at him blankly.

"When, missy, the Mortician can explain it to you better then I. He leads us- the East End Enforcers, that is- and I'm sure he would love such an…" the man stared at his fallen comrade, "Efficient…enforcer as you. What say you come meet da boss?"

Harley wished she could've said no, but ten how would she have discovered what happened to her city? As much as the idea of meeting this Mortician displeased her, she had to know…"Sure," Harley said casually. With any luck, Harley would be able to take down this nasty dictator and discover the truth in a single endeavor. "Lead the way."

The man lead her down the destroyed streets of Gotham, until they arrived at a large building which was once the luxurious Regal Hotel. According to the man, whose name was Clover, the top floors of the hotel had been rendered unlivable, but the first five levels were utilized by the Enforcers as their headquarters. Harley followed him up the stairs to the fifth level, where the man sat her down in a waiting room. "Wait here," he said and entered the Mortician's office. Harley couldn't help noticing the other Enforcers, gluttonously drinking and swearing in the bar room across from the waiting room. Soon, Clover returned, and beckoned Harley to follow him into the Mortician's hall. "Come on, the Mortician's-" There was a sudden shattering of glass in the room beyond, and an Enforcer yelled "Intruder!' Harley exploited this distraction to dropkick Clover, and proceed to slam his head into the wall.

Running into the office, Harley found it deserted. "Dammit," she swore. "He escaped." Harley ran into the hall, which was ominously silent. All of a sudden, she heard a slight whooshing sound and ducked as her assailant sailed over her, but then released an object at her which connected painfully with her face. "Batman?" she questioned hopefully.

"No," Nightwing growled, standing over her and pointing one of his escrima sticks at her. "Someone much worse. Someone who's going to finally kill this clown."


	2. Ep 2: Awakening (Part 2)

Previously on Knights, Harley Quinn awoke after a battle with Batman to find herself cured of insanity, but Gotham in ruins due to a mysterious event. Hoping to discover more about this mysterious event, Harley followed a gang known as the East End enforcers to their HQ where they are assaulted by an angry Nightwing.

**(Theme Song)**

Harley stared, cross-eyed at the electrified escrima stick in her face. "Nightwing," she said "You don't understand-"

"What is there not to understand?" he snapped. "You're a murderer, and you're working with this trash. I don't know how you survived, but-"

"Survived what? Believe it or not little birdie, I just woke up. I have zero idea what's going on."

"You think I'm going to believe that?" Nightwing narrowed his eyes at her and pushed the stick a little closer to her face. Harley tensed as she saw Clover stumble to his feet behind Nightwing, who was totally focused on her.

"Get down!" she screamed and tackled him as a hail of bullets soared over their heads. The two reluctant allies rolled away from each other, and Nightwing released a batarang. Clover gave a howl of pain as the batarang knocked his gun away, which was cut off as Harley lunged into him, landing a punch on his jaw. Clover crumpled to the floor once again.

Now that the immediate threat was over, Nightwing readied another batarang, which he aimed directly at Harley, who in turn had grabbed Clover's gun. The two faced each other, at a stalemate. 'Are we not over this yet?" Harley sighed. "You're the detective. I don't want to hurt you. Haven't you noticed I haven't laughed once? Has it ever occurred to you I'm telling the truth?"

Nightwing furrowed his brow. "Let's say I believe you, then. Where have you been all these years?"

"Locked away in the East End Free Clinic," Harley explained. "Well, not exactly _locked_. The anti-toxin Batman administered to me…I think it put me in a coma…but I have no idea for how long."

The Enforcers began to stir, and Nightwing sighed. "We can continue this conversation somewhere a little more private." As the Enforcers opened fire, Nightwing and Harley leaped out the window. As Nightwing fired his grapple gun, Harley grabbed onto his waist and the two swung to a nearby townhome, which was conveniently abandoned. Nightwing lead her down into the basement, which was filled with all sorts of technology. He locked the reinforced door and sat her down in a curious-looking chair.

"Please tell me this isn't an electric chair," Harley said warily.

"Nope," Nightwing almost cracked a grin. "This is a high-tech lie detector. I want to see if you're telling the truth."

Harley sighed, and once again told her story, Nightwing watched the computer intently all the while. At last he looked up. "Looks like you're good," he grunted apologetically, and slammed his hand on the keyboard. "Dammit! I was so close to nabbing the Mortician…"

"Nightwing," Harley rose quietly from the chair. "What happened to the city?"

Nightwing looked away, as if painful memories were returning. "Nobody's really sure." He murmured. "We call it the Burning. One day, the sky started raining fire over Gotham. Thousands died. Batman went to investigate. The fire eventually stopped. Batman never returned." He straightened up. "Since then, I've been trying to pull Gotham back together. But the government cut us off, labeling us a No Man's land. Since then, several notable supervillains- Two-Face, Penguin, etc- have taken over portions of the city. The citizens who rebel die instantly, so they all live in constant fear."

Harley remembered the scared flocks of people who had hidden from her upon her awakening. "Oh my god," she said. "Are you really doing this all alone? What about Batgirl and Rob-"

"Batgirl's dead," Nightwing growled, looking very angry. "Two-face killed her. Robin…has been away for a while."

An uncomfortable silence ensued. "I'll help," Harley said suddenly.

"What?"

"You're doing this alone. I have nowhere to go." Harley stepped towards him. "I know the villains of this city well. I'm wicked with a hammer." She lowered her gaze. "And…I owe something to the city."

Nightwing narrowed his eyes at her for a minute. Then he sighed wearily. "Aw, what the hell. I'll give you a chance. But if you backstab me, I _will_ kill you, Quinn. This is a very different day and age we live in from the world where all the villains would go straight to Arkham." Nightwing began entering a code into a keypad in the wall. "I'll get you some food at my safehouse, and then we can go after the Mortician." The door slid open, and Nightwing began to lead Harley through a dark hallway, the path lit by small lights embedded in the concrete ground. They eventually arrived at an apparent underground river. A large, black boat was docked at a small pier there.

Harley ran her hands over the yellow detailing on the boat's side. "Is this…the Batboat?"

Nightwing grinned. "Why so shocked?"

Harley rolled her eyes playfully. "Despite what cartoons would have you think, the Joker doesn't exactly have a Jokermobile, and certainly not a Jokerboat. If he bothers to build one, it normally gets blown up by the bat within days of its creation. At some point he gave up and focused on carjacking rides."

The two seated themselves in the high-tech boat, which cruised through the underground tunnels leisurely. At last, the stone walls began to give away.

Harley would never forget the first time she saw the Batcave. The cave's ceiling seemed to be miles away, the cave itself seemed to go on forever. Memorabilia, suits, labs, detainment cells (which Harley hoped to god she wouldn't be sleeping in) and most impressive of all, a massive computer, which Nightwing immediately seated himself at. "Excuse me, I have to change your security settings to safe," he explained as he clicked away. Somebody behind them cleared their throat. Harley narrowed her eyes at the man who was approaching them.

"Is that Bruce Wayne's butler?" Harley asked curiously. "Is he financing you right now?"

"Not exactly," Nightwing looked slightly uncomfortable. "He's…dead."

"Master…Nightwing," Alfred said quietly and set down a plate of steaming soup. "Dinner is served."

"Thanks, Alfred." Nightwing said absentmindedly and continued to play with the computer. Harley walked up to Alfred and extended her hand. "Hi, I'm Dr. Harleen Quinzel."

Alfred looked her up and down. "I had guessed," he said drily and shook her hand. "Welcome to the family, Miss Harley."

Nightwing stood up. "Come on, Harley. We have a few more things to sort out." Harley followed the boy to a big vault door. Nightwing punched in more numbers, and it opened to reveal the biggest arsenal Harley had ever seen. "Can you throw a boomerang?"

"Uh, no." Harley shook her head. "It wasn't exactly a cardinal skill for us sociopath clowns."

Nightwing frowned. "That _is _a problem…you can't work with us and not know how to throw boomerangs. No batarangs for you, then…" Nightwing gestured around the room. "Take your fill of flash-bangs, Gas pellets, etc. I hope you have room for all of it in that belt of yours."

Harley rolled her eyes. "_Please_. I could fit chainsaws, giant hammers, and exploding presents in this belt. I don't think a few pellets will be a problem." As she took her fill from the arsenal, Harley asked a question which had been nagging at her. "Why hasn't Bruce Wayne done anything? I mean, couldn't he help with fixing the city."

"He's dead." Nightwing said with a surprising amount of emotion in his voice. "He died in the burning."

"Oh," Harley said in a small voice.

Nightwing returned his utility belt to his waist. "I think we're ready to go, Harley."

"Wait!" Nightwing turned and stared at her. "Are you going to tell me your name, or do I have to call you Nightwing?"

Nightwing stared at her for a few minutes. "Dick," he said finally. "My name is Dick. Now, if we can-"

Gears spun crazily in Harley's head. Who had she once met, who swung gracefully through the skies with the name 'Dick'? "Dick Grayson." She said quietly.

Dick's eyes widened. "I'm sorry?"

"You're Dick Grayson." She repeated. "I…a long time ago, when I was still Dr. Quinzel, I was sent to psychoanalyze a few common thugs who had been convicted of assisting Tony Zucco with the murder of the Flying Graysons. I saw you there. You were adopted by-" Her eyes widened. "Oh my god. Bruce Wayne was Batman."

"And there go our secret identities," Dick said quietly. "But on the bright side, you've got the detective part down. We'd better go. We have a crime cartel to eradicate." Dick led her up a set of stairs, and into what she assumed was the renowned Wayne Manor. It seemed to not have been affected by the Burning, remaining as pristine as it had been in Gotham's golden age. The two continued up the marble stairs until they reached the roof.

"Uhm, why are we here?" Harley interjected. "I thought we were going after the Enforcers."

Dick ignored her. "This is my favorite view of Gotham," he said in a quiet voice. "From here, it's hard to see the carnage, or the sorrow. All you can see is Gotham itself, its ominous outline against the sunset." He sat on the edge of the roof. "Bruce never gave up on the city, even when it had given up on itself. He'd sit me here, every night before patrol, and ask me to tell him what I saw. I thought it was an exercise in observance. Now I think he wanted me to see that no matter how dark Gotham seems, there's a hidden beauty to it. A beauty that drove him to leap from skyscrapers every night dressed like a human bat, to give up any semblance of the life his parent's would've wanted him to have so that the city would know peace." Dick turned to her. "I need nothing less from you, if this is going to work. If we're taking back Gotham."

Harley met his serious gaze hesitantly. "I-" Then she remembered…the last time she had looked into those eyes. She had been in costume. He had begged her not to kill the girl. She had laughed, and done it anyway_. I have to do this_, she reminded herself. _I've committed so many sins… _"I swear I'll help you take this city back," she said firmly.

Dick allowed himself a small smile. "_Now_ we begin." Nightwing walked towards the stairs. "The Enforcers have an equipment cache just south of the Carmine lighthouse. We'll start there."

"Got it," Harley confirmed, following him back down to the Batcave, where he handed her a large hammer and climbed into the Batboat, grinning. "Let's do this thing."

The two shortly arrived at the cache, an old warehouse on the water's edge. It was flanked by two familiar faces- Clover and Sparky, the two Enforcers Harley had first encountered. They walked back and forth across the lawn, diligently waiting for any sign of danger.

Yet somehow, they missed the batarang which embedded itself in the ground at their feet. Sparky grinned. "Damn Nightwing missed. "

"Where'd it come from?" Clover responded gruffly.

"Those bushes over there. C'mon, quietly, we can take him together." The two slowly inched towards the bush where they were positive Nightwing was hiding. When they were in range, they motioned to each other, and unloaded their bullets.

Then they saw the beeping device. It exploded, and they started as smoke clouded their vision. The hammer hit Sparky so hard, he didn't notice. Clover wasn't so lucky. The escrima stick hit his gut, and as he gasped for breath, a Kevlar glove connected with his nose. Mercifully, an elbow connected with his neck and put him out of his misery.

"One down," Nightwing said as the smoke cleared. "Only about a trillion to go."

They continued through the warehouse this way, polling their abilities to catch the variously powered Enforcers off guard. Soon they arrived at the control room, where Nightwing immediately hacked into the Enforcer's mainframe. "Okay…" he murmured. "We just took out the majority of the Enforcers. The Mortician is…" his eyes widened. 'Harley, it's a-"

The door swung shut.

"Trap?" a voice cackled over the loudspeakers, as a the Mortician and his bodyguards appeared on the screens. "I've had a nice little spa treatment for days. The clown is a nice surprise, though…" his voice trickled off. "Those computers you hacked? About to explode. I'd suggest making peace with your gods, cause this is it!" The screens went dead.

Nightwing began disconnecting the cords connecting the computer terminals to the walls. "Will that stop the explosion?" Harley asked, leaning down to help.

"No," he grunted. "It's going to be detonated wirelessly. But…" he stood back to admire the work. "We can do this. The Mortician might seem bad to his little Enforcers, but he's an amateur with traps."

Harley tensed as the computer terminals began to shake violently. "Get to the opposite wall!" Dick yelled and she complied.

The ensuing explosion shook her to her core. However, Nightwing's idea had worked. The explosion had not only been far from then, but had also destroyed the door, leaving a perfect escape route. The two leaped over the debris and back into the main hall. The Enforcers who had been guarding Mortician were lying on the ground, hardly breathing, but the Mortician was nowhere to be found.

"He escaped," Harley said.

"Yeah, but we just obliterated his empire!" Nightwing said. For the first time since Harley had woken, he seemed to be back in his old spirits. "the East end Enforcers are powerless."

"Yes," a decidedly unwelcome voice said behind them. "Long live Emperor Penguin." The Penguin was standing there, surveying the debris while flanked by a seeming platoon of his henchmen. He grinned cruelly at them. "Yes, East End will make a delicious addition to my glorious empire!"

Nightwing readied a batarang. "Why, you-"

"Dick." Harley laid a hand on his shoulder. "We can't win this fight."

"Quinn's correct," the Penguin said gleefully. 'I'll let you like for now, because you gave me what I wanted. Interfere with Gotham again, and next time you won't be so lucky."

Dick lowered the weapon reluctantly. "Alright…" he agreed, seething. "But first.." Nightwing dropped something, and smoke filled the room. A large hammer cracked down onto Penguin's head, and he crumpled to the ground. "Quinn!" he howled.

Nightwing was livid by the time they arrived back at the Batcave. "We were played. None of it mattered."

"Nightwing-"

"Your room is in the East Wing, Harley. If you need anything, call Alfred-"

"Dick, listen-"

"Master Richard, if I may?" Alfred had entered while the two were arguing. He stood there calmly, two cups of tea on his serving platter. "You need to calm down. The two of you did all you could. Have some tea."

Dick took the teacup, not looking pleased.

"And whether you freed East End or not, you still accomplished much this night. You have gained a wonderful new ally, and given her a chance at redemption. You have illustrated it is possible to take back the city."

"Bruce would've had this cleared up by now," Dick said angrily. "He would've-"

"Master Bruce is dead," a sob wracked Alfred's thin frame. 'he's dead, but his dream lives on. And it's up to you to make sure it happens. Don't lose hope."

Dick nodded, allowing single tear to trickle down his cheek. "You're right, Alfred." Nightwing removed his mask. "I'll be in the shower. We'll start over tomorrow, or how many times necessary. We will take back this city." He locked eyes with Harley. 'Thanks to you, we have a fighting chance." Dick began to walk up the stairs to the manor. "Bruce didn't die in vain."

**Coming up on Knights- Infiltration! The return of Selina Kyle!**


End file.
